Environmental applications of enzymes

Abstract

Enzymatic processes fall between the two traditional categories of chemical and biological treatment systems since they involve chemical reactions based on the action of biological catalysts. A variety of enzymes from plants and microorganisms have been reported to play important roles in an array of waste treatment applications. Before the full potential of enzymes may be realized, a number of significant issues remain to be addressed. These include: development of low-cost sources of enzymes in quantities that are required at the industrial scale; demonstration of the feasibility of utilizing the enzymes efficiently under the conditions encountered during wastewater treatment; characterization of reaction products and assessment of their impact on downstream processes or on the environment into which they are released; and identification of methods for the disposal of solid residues, among others.

Role of Enzymes in the Remediation of Polluted Environments

“…The use of enzymatic proteins may represent a good alternative for overcoming most disadvantages related to the use of microorganisms (Nannipieri and Bollag, 1991;Karam and Nicell, 1997;Nicell, 2001;Bollag, 2002, Gianfreda andRao, 2004). Enzymes have several beneficial characteristics.…”

A model of the transient kinetics of laccase-catalyzed oxidation of phenol at micromolar concentrations

“…In general, it has been suggested that enzymatic wastewater treatment may be most appropriate as either a pre-treatment or polishing step when targeting specific pollutants in combination with a biological process [30] or with physical treatment, such as membrane filtration [32]. Although enzymes offer several advantages over existing treatment methods, their application is still limited due to their current high cost and the specificity of reaction conditions under which they exhibit acceptable activity and stability [33]. In some cases, the application of enzymatic treatment may also be limited due to conditions that result in the inactivation of the enzyme over time.…”

An Overview on the Use of Microbial and Enzymatic Systems for Dye Biotransformation

“…The potential for using enzymatic systems for colour removal has been recognized for some time (Bajpai and Bajpai, 1994;Karan and Nicell, 1997;Durán and Esposito, 2000;Rodriguez et al, 1999). The reasons for this interest are many (Nicell, 2002). In recent times the rate of introduction of recalcitrant pollutants into the environment is increasing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve an acceptable degree of removal of these pollutants using conventional chemical and biological processes.…”